This One is Close to My Heart
Last year, on Jan 3rd, we got the shocking and devastating news that my spouse's father, Charles, had passed away, unexpectedly. It happened so fast.
My spouse flew to Florida on a bereavement flight and drove with their mother and uncle to Arkansas, where the services were held. They then drove back to Florida (AJ's mom is not hip with flying) and spent a week getting their affairs in order for AJ's mom to take the reigns after AJ returned home.
One of the first things AJ's mom wanted to do once they got back to Florida was to go through his closet. She and AJ pulled everything out and separated his stuff into two piles: a pile to send to me and a pile to donate. When I received the box of his things she contacted me to ask me if I'd make some memorial pieces for family to receive the following year, both for the holidays and the year anniversary of her husband's passing.
I, of course, said yes.
She and AJ spent time discussing how they wanted the clothes to be sorted, in other words: who would get which pieces in their finished item(s). After Charles retired, his wardrobe became a melange of Hawaiian shirts/plaid short sleeves/t-shirts and jeans (full length and shorts). That was about the length of his wardrobe.
She asked me to make computer bags for the men and a new bag design for the women. She then picked out a special pattern design for herself. Along with that, I made her a bonus hip bag/fanny pack as a surprise. None of these designs (except for the hip bag/fanny pack) are in my shop. (I might add one or two later. We'll see.)
I spent several months working on these bags, in between custom orders and refreshing stock in my shop. I added a lot of little trimmings and details for each family member. They are all full of love and hold a piece of Charles's being in each one. And a little bit of me for making them.
I feel so proud to have taken on this project. I've done a lot of these memorial pieces over the years, but this batch of bags was close to my heart and definitely the largest and most complex order I've ever done out of one person's clothing.
This is a collage of the collection. Next, I'll be adding new posts about each bag.